Teatime for Transients/Tropes
Tropes for Teatime for Transients are listed below, in alphabetical order. Please be advised of SPOILERS. A Ability Required to Proceed A guard requires you to learn the ability "Cut" to chop down a tree to proceed on a path. This is Lampshaded when one of the player characters asks why they can't just go around the object and the guard insists that THAT would be cheating. This trope might get used again later on as well, where you must learn the ability "Brazilian" (possibly renamed to "Mow") to cut through an otherwise impassable section of tall grass. Abnormal Limb Rotation Range When the characters are blocked by toxic miasma, one character must "limber up" by going to a local chiropractor in the area. Upon doing so, they are able to "windmill" their arms to blow the miasma away, thus allowing them to continue. This "limbering" is only temporary and fades away once it is made plot irrelevant. Absurd Specific Crafting Requirements Accidental Proposal While traveling back in time, the party find that they are in the deep past -- perhaps a million years before their own present day. While here they meet the catfolk known as the Kraven and are tasked by its High Sorceress Queen with rescuing the princess, who has been kidnapped by the lizard-like Slannai. Despite their best efforts, they arrive too late and she is mortally wounded; they must use a Fertility Rose to revive her and restore her to life. However it is then that they learn that these objects are used in the proposal rites of the Kraven peoples. Long story short, marriage ensues and consummation of said marriage is hinted at having occurred. This directly leads to the birth of the Nekoans seen later in the timeline. Aerith and Bob Names like Clancy are commonly interwoven with names like Redric. Great example of this: the Ensemble brothers, Ty(men) and Soote. All the Worlds Are a Stage Late in the game (possibly at the end?) the party enter into a Spacetime Collapse Anomaly. Here they find segments of other areas and times amalgamated together into a strange and intense hodgepodge. An attempt will be made to fit in as many of the subtropes as possible. All There in the Manual Certain aspect(s) of the plot's detail is contained outside of the game, either on its own personal wiki or through an online manual (if not both). Perhaps this could be details on the Ensemble brothers' rift? Alternate Timeline Natural progression through the game produces several (or at least, a couple) alternate timelines, leading directly to the Spacetime Collapse Anomaly incident. Alternate Universe Will be used in one fashion or another. Current idea: Have the cleanup of the Spacetime Collapse Anomaly transport the player characters to alternate universes instead of their own timeline. Treat these worlds as the New Game + files, with the world you arrive in being chosen at random, and each world having maybe two of your original save's characters to find. Dark World, Reptile World, Plague World, and Genderswap World are some ideas. Ambidextrous Sprite Although most characters would not have this, one character in particular should, and it ought to be obvious to the player -- perhaps an eyepatch and/or missing limb. This would be lampshaded as the characters take notice of this and comment on it. This character likely makes some excuse about the whole situation. Ambiguously Human While he only seems a bit odd through your first play through, a seemingly random NPC who is involved in a minor but necessary quest reveals that he knows precisely who you are during New Game + files. He even goes so far as to reference other play throughs you have completed. Furthermore, his gender does not change in the Genderswap Dimension and he still appears Human in the Reptile Dimension, and yet nobody else seems to notice other than your playable characters. POSSIBLY the same character as the Ambidextrous Sprite character. Amusing Alien While Ciitarkians absolutely fit the bill here, an alien invasion segment involves "Yoshimitsu-headed" aliens who attack on the basis of thinking that tables are an enslaved species, kept in check by trained guard chairs. With these aliens' embarrassing departure, both Ciitarkians and Glairnogs remain on-world to continue their studies and research. Anachronic Order Sure, the game bounces around in its own timeline and the New Game + take place at the same time roughly despite you progressing through them all, but does that really count? If sequels were ever produced, we would need to place them out of order to make sure we hit this one. Anachronism Stew Like their fantasy-based Lunatic Entertainment works, Teatime for Transients is absolutely filled to the proverbial brim with glaring anachronisms. It's kind of his thing. Animals Loaded with Money This is explained away in-game as that the characters simply happen to items lying around in the area after killing the enemies, and that it is not necessarily on or in the foes themselves. Animated Armor First boss may appear to be animated armor, though it would turn out to be a telekinetic mouse controlling it from the inside. Later, actual animated armor shows up as Animated Nacho Armor in Clancy's era (+1,000,000 years Future). Animated Adaptation Harder trope to pin down. Would need to pin down a Flash animator? Antigravity Rocks Arc Hero Would not be usable until a sequel. Remember to include a new "sidekick" to focus on for an ample amount of "plot" development. Artifact of Doom A whole armor set counts as this. It is collected throughout the game to try and use it against the Eldritch Horror that emerges at the World's End era. However, while planning on defeating the beast the party find themselves on the wrong side of the planet. They figure out that they can still use the set to kill it from there, but they realize too late hat doing so consumes the wearer and cracks the planet with a beam that annihilates the Horror. Artifact Title Might be usable in (any) subsequent sequels..? Artificial Gil Before questing under the sea, the party must obtain a set of rebreathers so that they don't, you know, drown. Attack Its Weak Point Some bosses have a weak point that can be targeted to inflict serious damage. Ax-Crazy Loki tends to make cameos in Lunatic Entertainment games, and he is absolutely ax-crazy. If the elemental weapons appear, then the wielder of the Hydroax will be one. Otherwise, a unique mass murderer will appear somewhere. B Bag of Holding Very early in the game the protagonist will accidentally switch his regular backpack for that of a nearby hobo. This other bag turns out to be a BoH, connecting to the X-Zone. While super beneficial, the characters later accidentally pull out a dead body that is floating around in there, and in front of authorities, too. They are arrested for murder and must escape. Bathos Given the creator's own personality, the game will likely be absolutely rife with Bathos. One example being the Artifact of Doom -- a huge, frightening monster emerges, a main character dies, and the world is literally destroyed... yet the survivors act awkward and pull a "just walk away whistling and maybe no one will notice" move before just traveling back in time and leaving it at that. Beast in the Maze In the Dark Ages era, the party get dropped into a labyrinth via trap door while confronting a foe. Within its confines they can encounter the dreaded Minosectile, half minotaur, half insect, half reptile; a creature that clawed its way up from an abandoned mine when they dug too deeply. The creature turns out to also be seeking a way out, as an even more sinister threat lies within, guarding a huge treasure trove... the deadly Cave Flamingo. Being Evil Sucks During the party's escape from prison, they accidentally prevent an assassination attempt against the royal family. The party is pardoned but the royal family are all poisoned soon after. To prove their innocence they seek he cures in all 4 corners of the kingdom and restore the family. Angered, the main Medieval Ages villain seeks revenge. His first attack is petty, wherein he has an NPC killed right before they turn in a Key Item, leaving it stuck in their inventory. After this he invades the kingdom; when the party try to rally troops for the king, the villain destroys the bridge leading to them. The party then gives up and heads for the time portal but another minion blocks the path with boulders. The party lose their collective cool and yell at the minion, who teases them that a path on the other side of the mountain range still exists. Undaunted, they travel towards the other path, taking them through the villain's own kingdom. In the process they carve a path through his invading forces, opening him up to invasion. His kingdom is defeated and annexed, his fortress is burnt to the ground, his hot girlfriend leaves him, his dog gets caner, and he becomes destitute and homeless. The party encounter him again later and he renounces his evil ways -- in fact he offers to join your party. You can accept and take him in or refuse and fight him to the death. Either way the joining/battle intro is interrupted by a lightning bolt that strikes him, ending his miserable life. Be the Ball When you first arrive at the End of Time, you will get surrounded by obnoxiously cheerful shapeshifters called Machine Elves who will request you play with them, all the while changing into balls and rapidly leaping into your chests. Selecting "Ugh." gives you the opportunity to kill them all for free XP. However, saying "Cool!" transforms you into a ball and you will bound around for a little while until the Time Custodian shows up and kills them, stating how much he hates those blasted things. Beware The Nice Ones Harold "Papa" Razzi is likely the friendliest of the playable characters, if a bit obnoxious. However, the party still choose to quip him with the Artifact of Doom Armor Set so that he can be a great role model for his kid(s) by destroying the destroyer. However, activating the armor also causes him to destroy the world and the destroyer (as well as himself, by accident.) BFS If easy enough to program, Redric Refuse would pull out a random weapon to fight with every battle, one of which would be a BFS with the excuse being that he is too drunk to know he can't carry it. Otherwise... Someone else? Maybe the fisherman's weapon would be a Swordrod? Big Bad Due to the distinct separation between time eras, the ame includes several villains that could be considered the Big Bad of their respective time period. For instance, the CEO in the modern era (Rehale), the overlord in the medieval era, et cetera. Big Boo's Haunt At some point during the Dark Ages era, the party travel through a cemetery, where they encounter a malevolent Lich that has risen the dead. They then return to the Modern Era to find that Ty's school is on the same location and is haunted. This is discovered to be a central hub location, and is eventually visited in every in every era: the Tar Pits in Prehistory; the Flash Froze Forest and the underlying Burial Caverns of the Cavemen; the aforementioned Rhizzen Cemetery of the Dark Ages; the seemingly abandoned Überwald Manor and its surrounding cursed forest—a typical haunted house in the Gentleman Era; again, the school in the Modern Era; by the Near Future it has become a holy (and later an accidentally transformed to unholy) temple seeking to cease the undead curse on the region; when the world floods during the Future Era, it becomes the site of the great township of the doomed Marzipan; it is then transformed into the Power Whale's Concert Hall in the Distant Future. It is the (incorrect) Emergence Point of the Eldritch Abomination at the End of the World. Bilingual Bonus Although the Humans in the game all speak English (or whatever localized language if popular enough to warrant any translations), and Cavemen speak in pictures, the earlier Prehistory race speaks its own language, albeit translatable into English via codebreaking. These make references to plot points or can be just in-game jokes. If able to find someone who can translate into binary in real life, then machines can possess their own language, as well. Bishōnen At one point during the game, Redric tries to protect the party from an ultimate attack known as the Cleansing Beam, ala Piccolo's Risking It All For A Friend technique. Wile it initially looks as if the attack will prove fatal, the attack instead literally cleanses him, removing the grunge from his body, burning his bead off, scrubbing and untangling his hair, and even detoxifying him—erasing his alcohol addiction entirely; it does however alter his irises to red. The rest of the party are shocked to learn that he is actually bishōnen in appearance. However, over the course of the following story arc, sober Redric is actually pretty evil (lampshaded when it's mentioned that the party should have known such upon seeing his long, white hair). The party decide to revert Redric to his regular hobo state, bringing him back to the fold. Black Magic Although black magic is likely pretty common in the game )even more likely amongst the game's enemies), at the very least the Lich of Rhizzen is a black magic practitioner, bringing the dead back to life to supplement the Overlord's invasion forces. Blackout Basement A number of variances of this are played with throughout th game. Dungeons or caves may be dark, but the major areas using this are the ghost regions in every era. In Prehistory, the Tar Pits are bright up until the volcano erupts and blots out the sun, causing the world to be cast in shadow. The Tar Pits are hit the hardest, being at the foot of the mountain range and thus falling under the heaviest cloud cover. During the following Ice Age, the Cavemen live in dimly lit caves, though the actual settlement(s) are lit by a local fire. Once you travel deeper into the Burial Caverns, you find it to be very dark, with actual light at the entrance, the grotto, and the exit. In the Dark Ages, most of Rhizzen Cemetery is covered in a thick layer of night fog; however the Lich's mausoleum is pitch black past the first level down. One must light it using reflecting mirrors to progress. When the player explores Überwald Manor during the Gentleman Era, a sudden storm breaks out, trapping them there. The manor is barely lit, and most of the light comes from the many lightning flashes that brighten the area for a second at a time. The school, upon revisiting it, is revealed to be haunted. Breaking in during the night, it is dimly lit by moonlight. However, being haunted, lights flicker on and off or sometimes either suddenly turn on or complete off to blind you or leave you in the dark. The Near Future nearly solves the area's hauntings and the temple starts out blindingly bright—until things go terribly wrong. You are given a Ten-Second Flashlight and must solve puzzles to light your path. Flashlight is rechargeable in a few rooms, lit by a Nuclear Candle. The shipwreck of the Marzipan has barely any light and is a Room Full of Zombies. The party must rely on a makeshift muzzle flashlight for this region. In the Concert Hall in the Distant Future, the lighting strobes due to the concert. As Emergence Point, the party must gather the full Artifact of Doom set to use as an Infinite Flashlight. Blocking Stops All Damage The Defend Command in combat can block all damage sometimes—no need to make EVERY trope complicated! Bold Inflation While a villain accidentally giving hints away to his puzzle solutions may use this (if Rainbow Speak proves too difficult to program), a few other characters will talk like this throughout the game, usually to emphasize overdramaticism. Someone explaining LORE will say important words in ALL CAPS, merchants will bolden certain words and end every sentence with an exclamation mark, and Redric will likely capitalize random words to point out his constant inebriation—he would speak normally when cleansed. Bonsai Forest Most trees in-game are only 2-3 times player height. Will attempt at least one area with realistic, 15m tall trees. This is also lampshaded when the characters need to chop down a tree to progress, even though the tree is barely taller than the party and is even stated by them to be easy to get around. Bootstrapped Theme While not usually intentional right out of the gate by programmers, it might be viable for use during the game's unique take on New Game + mode? Perhaps even lampshaded? Bow and Sword, in Accord Ty Ensemble, as the game's bounty hunter, comes prepared with both a sword and wrist-mounted crossbow, both of which can be used in combat. He may later evolve into the Sword and Gun, but is unlikely to also be The Musketeer. Bowdlerize One of the New Game + alternate dimensions should be a version of this trope. Mead taverns in the Dark Ages are instead stated to be Apple Juice Bars; Smoking characters are instead shown to be sucking on lollipops; Guns are referred to as squirt guns (for pistols) or popguns (for rifles) and bows and crossbows are replaced with slingshots; Deaths of plot-based characters is explained away while enemies in combat just "fall asleep"; Love interests are "just friends"; Characters in revealing clothes normally are now far more modest; The dancers in one location are now dressed in hula outfits; Blood scenes are now recolored; Swear words are replaced with words akin to my usage of "Bob Saget!!"; The words "die" and "kill" are removed entirely; Any and all homosexual or bisexual characters are either gender-swapped or their relationships are altered for "less tolerant audiences"; Generally nude statues in the Gentleman Era are now shown waring underwear, et cetera. This is showcased as an obvious lampshade since you must have completed the game at least once already to see this family friendly version. Broad Strokes During one New Game + scenario, a player character from the original story mentions an important event that they had endured. However, when another character from the original dimension calls them out on this and states that they don't remember that event as ever having happened, the first character responds with a very blatant, "Broad strokes." This also counts as a Fourth Wall Breaking lampshade moment. Broken Bridge A literal broken bridge is encountered during the Dark Ages when the Overlord tries to stop your allied kingdom's reinforcements from getting called in. Completing a set plot point repairs the bridge and drives the story ever forward. More of these events also occur throughout the storyline. But Now I Must Go Logan is a gruff old man of the sea, and at the end of the game he insists that he hears the sea "a'callin'" his name once more. He therefore departs after the final battle but before the portals to the other universes swallow everyone else up. But Thou Must! Should ocur several times throughout the game, mostly out of humor's sake. Played straight when Clancy asks you to let him tag along in your quest—saying "No" will make him say, "But thou must!" and the option will repeat. Saying "No" when asked if you are ready to activate the Artifact of Doom to kill the Eldritch Horror will get you ignored and the party will do so anyway, while another option only has three choices which all amount to "Yes". The Overlord of the Dark Ages will ask you to join him at one point that can lead to a Non-Standard Game Over. A shifty merchant will over you a free item in the back alley somewhere called the Unwinner, a key item that prevents you from advancing the plot a little while later... permanently. Luckily there is a nearby save point and the game openly tells you that it is now unwinnable, you greedy twerp. Bikini-style Armor C Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp" Pretty common in the game. Some examples are the use of the Kravens (catfolk leaning towards more feline), Nekoans (catfolk leaning towards more human), the Olaloom (this game's answer to Elves, and a merging of Orlando Bloom's name), Molligaags (considered in-game to be one of the world's most exotic and elusive creatures but in real life is a currently-undecided but incredibly common animal) and the Plumesneeze (a whale—presumably a humpback). Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit" While other examples are certain to pop up throughout this game due to the simple nature of its programmer, one glaring example would be the enemy type known as the "Everyday Octopus". They are seen to hover using five tentacles as makeshift helicopter blades, but are stated to actually have fifty tentacles that hey keep tucked away. These are said to be like a Swiss army knife with a variety of useful tools built into them—including a garrote tentacle and a bone chainsaw tentacle. A few classes are seen as foes and NPCs, with their wizards looking more like squids and their soldiers looking more like nautiloids. Their kind are known to have written an epic prose poem... A parody of Homer's The Iliad known as The Illithid. Clancy's weaponry is various regular beans that grant him magical prowess—this likly also counts towards this trope. Call to Adventure As this trope essentially consists of various more subtropes, it would be difficult to pinpoint one topic here while also attempting to hit on all 32 subtropes that make p this one. Serious research will be required. Camera Centering Because the game is 2D, this trope may remain untouchable until later, 3D title possibilities. Camera Lock-On Ditto. Cartography Sidequest If able to program in, make the map reveal as progress is made in either a The Legend of Zelda, World of Warcraft, or typical fashion. Give rewards for uncovering certain landmarks or a percentage, and/or award EXP for entering new areas to aid in leveling up your characters. Cartoon Bomb Make use of stereotypical, clichéd "cartoon bombs". Likely at least one in-game enemy will use them. Cast of Snowflakes Something Lunatic Entertainment prides itself on. Every character in the game uses their own unique sprite set. Cataclysm Backstory Will try to work into the main game (as the impending Armageddon doesn't count) but it, at the very least, is in effect in the Plague Universe, and potentially the Dark one, as well. Otherwise might need to just put in a throw-away excuse plot in the beginning. The Catfish Each chronological era has its own catfish to catch. Celtic Mythology This trope is used a number of times throughout the game. For instance, during the Medieval Age, the player can (and at least once, must) use Fairy Rings to enter the land of the Fair Folk, which includes the Olaloom. Another is an enemy Cait Sith, which upon introducing itself to the party is asked if it belongs to some "mystical order of overdramatic sword wielders" (referencing Star Wars and the Sith). After saying no, it is asked if it is a mascot to some sort of amusement park in the desert (referencing Final Fantasy VII) to which it responds with, "Why does everybody always ask me that? It's oddly specific." The black coach Cóiste-bodhar makes an appearance in the Gentleman Era, Fomorians may appear as the living gods of the Trolls, a few weapons bare Celtic weapon names such as the spears Gae Bolg and the Spear of Lugh, or the sword Excalibrrr; other examples may turn up in-game, as well. Chain of Deals As an RPG, this game has at least one trading quest, but might include one per era. If not, trading quest may instead traverse time itself. Changing Gameplay Priorities Current idea on how to officially involve this trope is how the game is initially typical style turn-based RPG, with tactics being very useful against certain enemies; however later in the game you can mindlessly plow through many fodder types without fear of death. This then progresses into the Alternate Realities. Even the storyline shifts as your characters stop caring about the "plot" and focus on finding their friends. Gained abilities throughout the game may also count towards this. Charged Attack Two different techniques could count towards this trope. First, charging could be utilized for starting either the Brazilian/Windmill abilities or for a technique of Ty Ensemble's where he charges power through his wrist-mounted crossbow. Could also be lampshaded with an "ultimate technique" later on — possibly against the Eldritch Horror at World's End — which culminates in a long charge only dealing a whopping 1 damage. Perhaps this leads into the reason for collecting the Artifact of Doom in the first place. Chaotic Architecture Crystals! D Dude Lives in a Tree E Elegant Party with Intrigue Extinct, Badass Culture F G Giant Murderous Insects H Human with Inhuman HP I J K L Last Gift From Old Trainer M N Neat But Otherwise Useless Item O P Prophetic Dream Sequence Q R S Shop in Worst Possible Location Someone's Turned to Stone T The Broken Bridge *See Broken Bridge. The Casino The Catfish Each chronological era has its own catfish to catch. The Doomsday Cult The Secret of the Waterfall Treasure-Filled Sewer U V W World Ending Spell Scratches Boss X Y Z Category:Somarinoa's Content Category:Games Category:Original Games Category:Roleplaying Games Category:Original Content